Well, again down the rabbit hole I go! This week’s topic- religion, but I saw something in the news that completely arrested me. There is a judge in Louisiana who is denying interracial couples the right to get married. His reason for doing so is his concern for the children they will have. According to his research, when interracial couples have children neither the white side nor black side accepts them and he doesn’t want to lend to that. Now, let’s put aside all the obvious things that are wrong with this statement. Let’s delve into a question I’ve had for years, why is it that only when BLACKS and ANY OTHER RACE get married it’s considered interracial but never Whites and Asians or Hispanic and Polish or Italians and Greeks? Why is being black the deadliest potion known to man? Why are people so afraid of the black gene that they have to point it out at every turn? I often wonder how many people who are married to someone with another racial background consider that fact that they themselves are in an interracial relationship.
I also wonder if they realize that while they are content to just sit and wag their head at the injustice being meted out if people won’t stand up for what this country stands for then we are doomed to fail as a country. Right now people are so content to blame the demise of this country on the lack of funds and Obama, but I see the epic fail of this country as calling out Supreme Justice Sonya Sotomayor for simply upholding a decision made by a judge that people considered racist while this judge who is clearly breaking the law hasn’t made one blip in the minds of the masses. I hope that one day people are judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character. I hope; Dr. Martin Luther King dreamed…..his dream was exactly that, a dream. How can we get to judging someone on the content of their character if the color of their skin or how they speak or dress prevents us from getting to know their character? I am an activist, however complacent, you will never find me marching on the front lines but you will hear me supporting and cheering on the people who are. You will never find me trying to get new legislation passed but you will see me signing my name, you will ne’er see me in a court defending someone’s right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness but you will see me on the jury finding in their favor.
In this case I wanted to do none of the above, I just wanted to stop and ask you. Do you consider yourself white? Is your partner white? Do you consider yourself a “good ole’ American?” Does your partner consider themselves a “good ole’ American?” If you consider yourself an American then you should believe in what this country stands for and the laws and rights that each of us has as an American. If you place exceptions on that you are sure to lose your rights as an American. No one American is better than the other, no matter what your irrelevant judgment is of that person. We are all Americans and if you see American couples walking down the street remember that your thoughts about them don’t matter because they still have rights in this, their country. Whether or not you consider them interracial or socially unacceptable, they have a right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. If you think otherwise, it’s you that are the deadliest potion in the country not blacks, not interracial couples or their offspring, but you and your refusal to be American and to stand for the liberties that our good white founding forefathers gave us. The principle that ALL men are created equal and are due equality in this country is every Americans indelible right and to deny them that is simply un-American. Are you an American?
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